Transfer mechanism



July 10,1945. H. T. HALLOWELL, JR 2,380,306

TRANSFER MECHANISM Filed Ja n. 25, 1945 3 Sheefs-Sheet 1 July 10, 1945. H. T. HALLOWELL, JR

TRANSFER MECHANISM Filed Jan. 23,, 1943 s Sheets-Sheet 2 July 10, 19 5 H. T. HALLOWELL, JR

TRANSFER MECHANI SM 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Jan. 25 1945 Patented July 10, 1945 v 1:

f 1 W 7' wwi v assignor to Pennsylvania ManufacturingCompany, Jenkintown,*l a., a corporation of Dela :Afiplilcationdanuary 23, 1943, Ser i alNo.-473,383 n 7, I 2'Claims. This invention relatesf to improvements in transfer devices of the generalcharacteridisclosed in my ber 424,052.' V s Therein, I discloseda machine for assembling the elements of priming heads'for explosive shells and the like bytransferring the elements from suitable points of upp1y to-.-the, priming head casings carried by a rotary work-table successively into the transfer positions. Twoof the.

elements, namely, the firing pinand the, cap were transferred .together as a sub-assembly by means of a transfer device employingsuction as a means for. holding the pin and cap together in their properrelative positions during the transfer operation. The machine further includes means for bringing the said. pins and capstogether in the form of the'sub-assemblies andfor introduc ing the sub-assemblies thus formed into the active transfer member. I g I I i A principal object of the presentinvention is to provide a simplified, more accurate andfunctionally. improvedtransfer device of.lthe afore-. said character, said deviceibeing designed so as.

to maintain its operating efliciency and accuracy over extended periods ofiuse and irrespective of,

the wear that unavoidablyoccurs in theseveral relatively moving elements of the device.

The invention further resides incert'ain'strujctural details hereinafter described and illustrated in the attached drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary plan view'of atransfer device made in accordance with myinvention, together with the associated portions of the assembling machine of which the transfer device constitutes a Part; ,f j Fig. 2is asection' on the line 2 -2, Fig. 1;

I Fig. 3 is a section onthe line 3 ,3; 1:

Figs. 4- and 5 areviews in perspective respectively of the oscillatory transfer headand the supporting base for said head; Fig. 6 is a view in perspective ,of thehollow pintle of the oscillatory he'ad, and,

Figs. 7 and 8 are fragmentary sectional views showing diiferent steps in the transferoperation.

Referring to the drawings, the machindwhich includes the transfer device as anelement, com prises a base plate or member l'within which is mounted a relatively fixed vertical pintle 2. Seated upon the'plate 'l' is a base member 3 shown detached in Fig. 5, said member being rigidly secured to the plate and having as a part thereof a cylindrical aperture 4 for passage of the pintle 2, as best shown in Fig. 3. The boss-like projection 5 of the member 3 forms a seat. for a sleeve copending app ication Serial "Num- 6 which closely embraces the pintle 2, this sleeve having at its lower end ashoulder T and a projecting bifurcated arm 8, the latter being adapted for reception of an operating rod 9 which fits between the bifurcations off the arm 8 and is secured to the arm by means of a pin H. By

' meansof the rod thesleeve' 6 is oscillated as and for a purpose hereinafter described.

Embracing the sleeve 6 is the hub portion l2 of a transfer head 13, this head being illustrated in Fig.4} As herein shown, in addition to the hub portion 12, the head comprises a trans versely' extendingarm i4 having at its outer end a hollow cylindrical portion l5. Slidably supported within the cylinder 15 is a plunger I! which is adapted for vertical reciprocation within the cylinder and which is normally heldin an interior of the plunger, said bore extending downwardly to thelower end of the plunger, as shown, for example, in'Fig. 7. The space between the'collars 2|, 2| of the plunger is in communicatiOn' with a port 24 which extends through the arnr l4 tothe inner'surface of the hub l2; and the sleeve 6 is provided with a ciroumferentially elongated port 25 which communicates continuously 'with the port 24, and also with one end of a port26 which extends downwardly in the pintle 2 and through-the bottom of the latter where it is connected in the present instance with a tube Zl'extending toa sourceof suction.

The lower end of the cylinder l5 has a restricted opening 28 within which is slidably fitted the lower end of the plunger l1 and this opening 28 is also of a' size to receive the aforesaid subassembly of they priming head, which sub-assembly consists of a firing pin 29 and a cap 3L This is shown i'n Fig. 7. With the plunger in the normal elevated position and the sub-assembly 29- -3l occupying the opening 28 at the bottom of'the cylinder 15, as shown in Fig. 7, suction applied through the duct 21 and the associated ports 26, 24, 22 and 23 will act upon the subassembly to retain the latter in the opening 28 for the transfer operation which is hereinafter described. It will be noted that the lower end of the plunger I1 is provided with an extension 32 which is adapted to fit through the open top of the cap 3| so as to contact the upper surface of the firing pin 29 whereby the suction applied directly to the upper face of the firing pin is more effective to support the pin and the depending cap 3| in the cylinder.

The upper end of the sleeve 6 is threaded for reception of a nut 33 for retention on the sleeve of the hub l2 of the oscillating transfer head, it being noted by reference to Fig. 3 that the sleeve 6 itself is retained in place upon the pintle by means of a washer 34 and a washer-retaining screw 35 at 1 the top of the pintle. Between the nut 33 and the upper end of the hub 12 is one or more fibre or other suitable wean-resisting washers 36, a similar washer or washers 31 being also confined between the lower end of the hub and the shoulder I of the sleeve 6. The washers 36 and 31 constitute elements of a slip clutch operatively connecting the hub l2 with the sleeve 6, the nut 33 being adjusted to afford the required amount of frictional resistance to relative angular movement between these elements.

Referring again to Fig. 4, it will be noted that the head 13 is provided with a segmental slot 38 at the under side of and extending transversely of the arm l4, andin assembly this slot 38 receives a pin 39 which projects upwardly from a bracket 4| secured to the member 3 by means in the present instance of screws 42. This pin being relatively fixed constitutes a stop for limiting the throw of the head l3, and an adjusting screw 43 is provided at each end of the slot in position for engagement with the pin 39 so that the throw of the head is adjustable. This variability of the throw of the head is permitted by the slipping clutch 36--3| described above which provides for lost motion between the sleeve 6 and the hub l2 of the head. As hereinafter set forth, the adjustment of the throw is primarily for the purpose of establishing the position of the cylinder I at each end of the traverse movement of the head so that the lower end of the cylinder may register accurately with other elements of the device in the transfer operation.

As previously described, the function of the transfer device described above is to transfer thev sub-assembly consisting of the firing pin 29 and the cap 3| from a source of supply of this subassembly to the priming head casing which are carried on arotary work-table. The work-table is designated in the present instance by the reference numeral 44, and this table is provided with a peripherally arranged series of sockets 45 which receive the priming head casings 46. The manner in which the said casings are supported in the sockets is best shown in Figs. 3 and 7. The transfer head receives the sub-assembly at a position designated in Fig. 1 by the reference character A. In accordance with the principle set forth in my aforesaid copending application, the firing pins 29 and the caps 3| are fed toward the position A on belts 48 and 49 respectively, and are displaced from the belts by plungers 5| and 52 to a relatively superimposed position at station A, and from this station, the parts are displaced upwardly by means of the plunger 41 into the opening 28 of the cylinder l5 of the transfer head, which .at that moment overlies the station A, the suction then taking effect to retain the sub-assembly in the head, as shown in Fig. '7 and as previously described. From this point, subsequent movement of the head about the pintle 2 carries the cylinder l5 to a position overlying the series of sockets 45 on the table 44, and over the path of travel of the casings 46 which occupy'said sockets. The table 44 is given an intermittent movement which'advances the casings one at a time to a predetermined position, designated by the reference character B in Fig. 1,-in which the cylinder l5 of the transfer head is in exact registration at one end of its oscillatory movement with one of the casings 46,

and at this point means is provided in the form of a plunger 53 for depressing the plunger ll of the transfer device to displace the sub-assembly 29-3l into the registering open upper end' of the casing 46, said displacement being illustrated in'liig. 8. This downward movement of the plunger I! does not in the present instance interrupt the application of suction to the port 23'of the plunger, but since the cap 3| of the sub-assembly by action of the plunger I1 is forcefitted into the casing 46, the suction is insufficient to retain the sub-assembly in the lower end of the plunger when the latter moves upwardly after release by the plunger 53, the sub-assembly thereby remaining in place within the casing 46 and completing the assembly operation. Since the oscillatory movement of the sleeve 6 is in excess of the limited oscillatorymovement of the transfer head, wear resulting in the transmission means associated with the sleeve will have no effect upon the accuracy of the registration of the cylindrical portion 15 of the transfer head with the station 41 and with the casing 46 on the table 44, this registration being controlled by the screw 43.

I claim:

L'Transfer mechanism comprising in combination a pintle, av sleeve oscillatable on the pintle, a hub. element embracing and frictionally attached to the sleeve so as to oscillate with the latter and to provide for lostmotion between the hub and the sleeve, an arm projecting from the hub, a transfer member on the arm, stop means for limiting the angular movement of the hub,

ing the sleeve=through an angle exceeding the angular movement of the hub.

2. Transfer mechanism comprising in combination a pintle, a sleeve oscillatable on the pintle, a hub element embracing and frictionally attached to the sleeve so asto oscillate with the latter and toprovide for lost motion between the hub and the sleeve, an arm projecting from the hub, a transfer member on thearm, stop means for limiting the angular movement of the hub, said means comprising a relatively fixed abutment, a stop element at each side of said arm, and a screw in each of said elements for engagement withsaid abutment and adjustable to regulate the position of 'the transfer member at each end of said angular movement, and mechanism for oscillatingthe sleeve through an angle exceeding the angular movement of the hub.

HOWARD THOMAS HALLOWELL, JR. 

